Dihydroxy aromatic compounds and methods for preparation

1. A dihydroxy aromatic compound having a Formula (I),

wherein R 1 is an aromatic divalent functionality having 6 to 60 carbons, R 2 can be the same or different at each occurrence and is independently at each occurrence selected from the group consisting of a cyano functionality, a nitro functionality, a halogen, an aliphatic functionality having 1 to 10 carbons, a cycloaliphatic functionality having 3 to 10 carbons and an aromatic functionality having 6 to 10 carbons, and “n” is an integer having a value of 0 to 4.

2. The dihydroxy aromatic compound of claim 1 wherein the aromatic divalent functionality R 1 is derived from a dihydroxy aromatic compound having Formula (XIV)

wherein each G 1 is independently at each occurrence an aromatic radical having 6 to 20 carbons; E is independently at each occurrence a cycloaliphatic radical having 3 to 20 carbons, an aromatic radical having 6 to 20 carbons, an aliphatic radical having 1 to 20 carbons, a sulfur-containing linkage, a phosphorus-containing linkage, or an oxygen atom; “t” is a number greater than or equal to one and less than or equal to 10,000; “s” is either zero or one; and “u” is a whole number from zero to 10,000.

3. The dihydroxy aromatic compound of claim 1 wherein R 1 is derived from hydroquinone, methyl hydroquinone, resorcinol or bisphenol A and “n” equals 0.

4. The dihydroxy aromatic compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound of Formula (I) is N-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-2-[4-[(4-hydroxy-phenylcarbomoyl)-methoxy]-phenoxy]-acetamide.

5. The dihydroxy aromatic compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound of Formula (I) is N-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-2-[4-[(4-hydroxy-phenylcarbomoyl)-methoxy]-2-methyl-phenoxy]-acetamide.

6. The dihydroxy aromatic compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound of Formula (I) is N-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-2-(4-(1-methyl-1-[4-(4-hydroxyphenlycarbomyl-methoxy)-phenyl]-ethyl)-phenoxy)-acetamide.

7. The dihydroxy aromatic compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound of Formula (I) is N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-(3-[(4-hydroxyphenylcarbomoyl)-methoxy]-phenoxy)-acetamide.

8. A process comprising:

reacting a compound of Formula (III) with a compound of Formula (IV) in the presence of a first base to produce a compound of Formula (V)

reacting the compound of Formula (V) with a halogenating agent in the presence of a first catalyst to produce a compound of Formula (VI)

and reacting the compound of Formula (VI) with a compound of Formula (VII) in the presence of a second base to produce a compound of Formula (I)

wherein R 1 is an aromatic divalent functionality having 6 to 20 carbons, R 2 can be the same or different at each occurrence and is independently at each occurrence selected from the group consisting of a cyano functionality, a nitro functionality, a halogen, an aliphatic functionality having 1 to 10 carbons, a cycloaliphatic functionality having 3 to 10 carbons and an aromatic functionality having 6 to 10 carbons, R 3 is a hydrogen or an aliphatic functionality having 1 to 10 carbons, X and X 1 are both independently a halogen selected from the group consisting of chlorine and bromine, and “n” is an integer having a value 0 to 4.

9. The process of claim 8 , further comprising

hydrolyzing the compound of Formula (XIV) in the presence of alkali metal hydroxide or alkali metal carbonate

to provide a compound of Formula (V)

wherein R 1 is an aromatic functionality having 6 to 60 carbons, and R 3 is selected from the group consisting of an aliphatic functionality having 1 to 10 carbons.

10. The process of claim 8 wherein the compound of Formula (III) is hydroquinone, methyl hydroquinone, resorcinol or bisphenol A.

11. The process of claim 8 wherein the compound of Formula (IV) comprises chloroacetic acid or ethyl bromo acetate.

12. The process of claim 8 wherein the compound of Formula (VII) is 4-aminophenol.

13. The process of claim 8 wherein the first base is sodium hydroxide.

14. The process of claim 8 wherein the first catalyst is dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, dimethylaminopyridine, dimethylaniline or diethylamine.

15. The process of claim 8 wherein the halogenating agent is thionyl chloride, phosphorous trichloride, phosphorous pentachloride, phosphorous pentabromide, thionyl bromide, phosphorous tribromide, or oxalyl chloride.

16. The process of claim 8 , wherein the second base is an inorganic base or an organic base.

17. The process of claim 16 , wherein the inorganic base is an alkali metal hydroxide or an alkaline earth metal hydroxide.

18. The process of claim 16 , wherein the organic base comprises triethylamine, piperidine, piperidine, ethyldiisopropylamine, pyridine, pyrrolidone, morpholine, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium methylate, potassium methylate or a combination of two or more of the foregoing.

19. The process of claim 8 , wherein the reaction of a compound of Formula (III) with a compound of Formula (IV) occurs at a temperature of about 30° C. to about 100° C.

20. The process of claim 8 , wherein the reaction of the compound of Formula (V) with a halogenating agent occurs at a temperature of about 40° C. to about 140° C.

21. The process of claim 8 , wherein the reaction of a compound of Formula (VI) with a compound of Formula (VII) occurs at a temperature of about 0° C. to about 40° C.

22. A process comprising;

reacting a compound of Formula (III) with a compound of Formula (IV) in the presence of a first base to produce a compound of Formula (V)

reacting the compound of Formula (V) in the presence of a first catalyst with a chlorinating agent to provide the corresponding diacid chloride having Formula (VIII)

and reacting the compound of Formula (VIII) in the presence of a second base with 4-aminophenol of Formula (IX) to produce a compound of Formula (II)

wherein R 1 is derived from hydroquinone, methyl hydroquinone, resorcinol or bisphenol A, R 3 is hydrogen, and X is bromine.